Two wildfires still burning in Los Angeles have torched more urban area than any other fire in the state since at least the mid-1980s, an Associated Press analysis shows.

The Los Angeles fires are a soul-crushing and city-defining disaster. Callous voices have called it a city-destroying event, but they don’t know Los Angeles very well.

A study by UCLA, published on Jan. 15, showed that 85% of individuals employed as household workers in Los Angeles are Latino. And, among these individuals, 47% are self-employed, making them ineligible for unemployment benefits or formal protections such as paid leave.

The number of deaths from the wildfires that destroyed entire communities in the Los Angeles area in January 2025 has risen to 29, the county medical examiner’s office said.